This was the best part!
Sharing at the Soda Shoppe in Victoria
Traditional banana split from the soda shoppe in Victoria 
Someday we will see the end of the highway!
Just in the woods near Sooke
Wild harbour seals in Victoria
The Forest House in Sooke
We left Nanaimo early and headed out to Victoria and then Sooke. After a very disappointing visit to the "Undersea Gardens" (seriously, just because you can see fish in a tank does not mean you are an undersea garden and should charge a family $40 to see it), we walked around downtown Victoria.
It was pretty hot and sunny so we found a super neat restaurant called "The Soda Shoppe". Dad had a pineapple fizzy and then we ordered a traditional banana split. The kids had only ever seen a soda shoppe in cartoons so they loved sitting on the stools and looking out the windows while enjoying some ice cream.
Then we found "Mile 0" of the trans-Canada highway. Mom loved having pictures taken there...someday we will have our pictures taken at the end of the trans-Canada highway. We also showed them the Terry Fox statue at Mile 0, our oldest had learnt about him in school so she thought it was neat to see where he had been.
The best find of the day was HARBOUR SEALS... real wild ones!
We heard from a local fellow that there were a few seals that hung out in the Oak Bay Marina. We walked around the dock and found them right away. For $1.99 the marina shop will sell you a bag of frozen, dead, cut in half fish to feed to the seals.
The kids loved the fact that the fish were frozen, dead AND cut in half. We didn't get it but to each their own.
OMG! So much fun! Our middle child didn't want to touch the fish, so he just dumped his entire bag into the water and the seals went nuts. They swam around the dock and nabbed the fish every time we threw some.
One seal even floated there and waited to have the fish thrown in his mouth, if you waited to long he would splash you with his flipper. The kids loved watching and feeding seals!
The dumb lady who dropped her sun glasses in the harbour while watching the seals was almost as entertaining. She freaked out when they fell and then stomped around trying to figure out how to get them out...they were 30 feet down. he he he!
Everyone then rested, except for Dad who had to drive, as we went to our cabin in Sooke. The cabin was nestled in the forest. Even though it was hot and sunny our cabin 60 feet off thehighway was cool and refreshing. A nice dog named Tobi met us there and even showed us around the inside of our cabin.
We had supper at a local favourite spot called, "Stickelback". We sat overlooking the water and watched a game of kayak ball. Our youngest got so excited when they scored a basket though that he would cheer and clap (which normally would be alright, but it was a more upscale restaurant and the cheering and clapping didn't really fit in).
We had a great seafood supper...well mom (pesto mushroom crusted halibut) and dad (salmon and sun dried tomato salsa) did...the kids had spaghetti (noodle) and meatballs (balls of meat) and chicken fingers, all of which were served in cardboard pirate ships, and came with ice cream.
Back at the cabin we lit the fireplace and cuddled up in blankets...one of the best things about winter...but it is summer, so it is a real treat. The temperature must have dropped to high single digits because Mom and Dad saw their breath just before bed time.
The Forest Cabin
Room 5/5 (The cabin interior was fabulous! It had two big super comfy beds, one in a loft, a full bathroom, kitchen, living room, front porch, and back patio. For the cost of a regular hotel room we had a great cabin with a fire pit and BBQ. Even though it was a cabin it was super super clean! The fridge was clean and did not smell bad at all. The cabin even receives our patented 'No Spider' award.)
Pool 0/5 (...There wasn't one. It had a shower and tub but no other H2O options.)
Location 3/5 (It was close to Victoria, maybe 20 minutes away, and only 3 minutes from Sooke. It was just off the highway and still very secluded.)
Cabin 5/5 (We planned on staying there from the beginning but once we were there we realized how amazing it was to have a little break from the regular hotels. Being fully stocked we cooked full meals and had the little extra room and outdoor space to spread out a bit. We would recommend it to anyone.)
